


Could be Worse

by Addison



Series: Disaster Dates [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 09:56:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4015372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Addison/pseuds/Addison
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam is on a bad date and ends up hiding in the restaurant's broom closet where Louis is also hiding from his own bad date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Could be Worse

**Author's Note:**

> This was written purely for fun. No harm meant in any of this.

This kind of thing didn’t usually happen to Liam. He wasn’t the kind of person people asked out on a proper date. But then again, he wasn’t the type to go out a lot. His friend, Niall always said he needed to get out more and meet people. And the one time he agreed to go out with him for a pint, he scored a date- which Niall had been bragging about in the days leading up to this date.

Liam can feel his blood thrumming and his heart racing. The last time he was on a date was in secondary school so suffice to say he’s more than a little nervous.

His date, Sam, hadn’t arrived yet which gave him some time to panic over everything. Like wondering if he should have dressed nicer. He’s wearing jeans, a black Henley and a pair of worn trainers which is probably a little too casual for a place like this. He scratches his stubble and thinks that he probably should have shaved too. It’s not exactly a fancy, fine-dining restaurant but it still has nice silverware, table cloths, and at least partially gourmet dishes- so fancy enough.

As he’s glancing around the place, his eyes are drawn to a guy at a table by the window who seems to be waiting for his own date. He’s dressed pretty casually as well- his feathery hair is artfully messy and he’s wearing a white tee under his jacket and grey joggers which seems more prepared for lounging around the house than a date but whatever.

Before he can be caught staring, Sam shows up and seeing his date confident and relaxed eases his nerves a little. Sam seemed like a pretty cool guy when he met him at the pub and he looked to be bringing that same charm and confidence that got him to agree to this date in the first place here. Maybe this date wouldn’t turn out so bad after all.

 

It is possible Liam may have spoken too soon because as soon as he sits down, Sam is absolutely obnoxious. He chews with his mouth open, he made about ten immature fart jokes before the appetizers even arrived and he hasn’t talked- or rather bragged- about anything but himself the entire time.

Liam hides his discomfort and keeps a smile on his face. He tries to keep listening to whatever Sam is saying out of politeness but he finds himself wishing for this date to be over already. That thought makes him feel awful and thinks maybe he should just give him a chance and things will take a turn.

When a piece of food flies out of Sam’s mouth as he’s talking with a mouth full of chips, Liam has to turn his head to hide the disgust on his face. He spots the guy from earlier with a tight smile on his face which doesn’t do much to hide the obvious disdain in his eyes. It’s pretty awful that he feels a little better that he’s not the only one that's a little out of place and on a horrible date among everyone else in the restaurant that seem to having the perfect dinner.

“But where are my manners, what do you do?” Sam’s question snaps his attention back.

Liam tries to relax. He smiles shyly and says, “Well, I work as a bartender now but I’m hoping to get into music producing."

“Really?” Sam almost snorts.

“Yeah, why not? I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it. It's why I chose it for my degree course.” Liam asks with surprise as his face falls. This is not the first time he’s gotten that reaction so he’s not really that upset or offended.

“I don’t know, it just seems a little silly, that’s all,” Sam says flippantly.

“Excuse me?” Now, Liam may be a little offended.

Sam senses that and throws his hands up in the air in surrender position, “I don’t mean being producing music is silly. It's just...don't you think it's a little unrealistic and impractical. Really though, I just think it's silly and childish."

Liam opens and closes his mouth, searching for a response. Instead, he just says, “Excuse me, I have to use the bathroom.” He stands up a little too quickly and bumps the table which knocks over his glass of wine. He quickly apologizes to the waiter who comes over to clean it up before sprinting off.

 

Liam rests his knuckles on the sink and stares at himself in the restroom mirror. He’s aware that he can’t stay in there forever. He’s already been in there longer than it would take anyone to piss. He sucks in a deep breath and prepares to go back out. Just a little while longer, he tells himself. He could just end the date here but he's never been one to do anything half-assed. He's determined to finish what he's started even if it might the worst he's ever been on. They’ve almost finished their main course and all that’s left is dessert. He can make it through that.

But as he’s walking back to his table, he sees his date picking at his teeth and he cringes. Sam is just about to turn his head and spot him.

In a fit of panic, he reaches for the nearest door- which just happens to be the broom closet- to hide himself.

“Hey, this is my hiding place. Find your own,” the guy from the table by the window grits out immediately when Liam opens the door.

Liam quickly glances back where Sam is standing up and looking around, probably wondering why he’s taking so long. His heart is racing a million miles a minute and the guy is trying to shove him out of the broom closet. He's not thinking clearly and he's in a frenzied state so at the moment, this seems like the perfect plan.

“Tough luck, you’re going to have to share,” Liam says hurriedly as he grabs the guy’s wrists and pushes back. He lets his wrists go to close the door behind him. He breathes in deeply to calm his nerves.

“Well, this is comfortable,” the guy says sarcastically, "Just what I needed some brick wall taking up more space in here." It’s only then, when Liam has calmed down a bit that he realizes a few things. Firstly, the broom closet is a little cramped. The walls are lined with shelves and there are toilets rolls and brooms scattered on the floor that makes it difficult to move around. They’re not exactly pressed up against each other as there’s still a little room between them but every time either of them does move, they brush against each other.

Secondly, he's hiding in a broom closet which is just ridiculous. Still, he stressed and seriously doesn’t want to deal with his horrible date so he just says, “Well, I'm sorry, my date was about to see me and I didn't have time to find another hiding place. Please, I'll owe you a favour."

“I could just open the door and shove you out right now. Then, you won't have to owe me,” the guy smirks and crosses his hands over his chest.

"I doubt you’re even strong enough,” Liam mutters and rolls his eyes. He's usually more polite than this but he's way to wound up for this. The guy glares at him and huffs. He tries to compose himself before saying, “Alright, mister muscles, maybe I could shout out to your date that you're in here.”

“Well, then you’d be risking calling whoever you’re hiding from over here as well, wouldn’t you?” Liam challenges back.

“I’m willing to take that chance, as long as I take you down with me.”

“Go ahead then,” Liam isn’t usually like this but then again, he doesn’t usually hide in a broom closet from a shitty date either.

The guy puffs up his chest like he’s preparing to start yelling. It’s all just for show though as he sighs deeply in frustration when Liam doesn’t back down. “Fine, I guess we’re stuck here for a while then.”

“Great, should be fun,” Liam says sarcastically.

“Brilliant,” the guy retorts with equal bite.

“Well since we’re going to be here a while, I’m Liam,” he smiles tightly and holds out his hand to him. The guy eyes it wearily before taking in a handshake, “Louis.”

 

After a couple minutes of silence, Louis speaks up again, “Out of curiousity, how long are you planning on hiding here exactly?”

“I don’t know, until he goes away, I guess,” Liam says weakly, knowing how ridiculous that sounds. He leans back against the door, wondering how he was stupid enough to gt into this mess. What the hell was he thinking hiding in a broom closet?

“Didn’t really think this through, did ya?” Louis says smugly. He uncrosses his arms and puts his hands in his pockets, leaning back against the shelf behind him with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“No, I don’t really plan what would happen if I end up hiding in a broom closet from a shitty date,” Liam says defensively, throwing his hands up in frustration. He internally curses himself for getting into this situation in the first place.

“That's just sad,” Louis shakes his head and laughs at him.

“Yeah, well, what about you, then? How long do you plan on hiding here?”

“Oh, I am prepared to stay here all night if I have to,” he says with a matter-of-fact tone, “And trust me when I say your date could not possibly be as bad as mine.”

“You would think so,” Liam mutters with a roll of his eyes.

“I know so," Louis retorts.

“My date has been nothing but obnoxious and immature this whole date. He chews with his mouth open, incessantly talks about himself and then call me silly and childish."

“Yeah, well, mine is an insufferable prick, hasn’t stopped making lewd comments about my- admittedly fine- arse since he sat down and then had the audacity to call my job and, not to mention, football stupid.”

Liam stares at him in wide-eyed confusion which Louis rolls his eyes at and says, “Fuck off, I like football.”

“No, that’s not it—um, what’s ‘insufferable’ mean?” Liam asks sheepishly.

Louis stares at him incredulously, “Seriously?” He’s about to ask Liam if he’s an idiot but the look on his face is so earnest that he softens his disposition and just mumbles, “It’s like ‘intolerable’.”

“Oh,” Liam says simply, idly scratching the back of his neck. Up close, he notices how striking blue L’s eyes are and his sharp cheek bones making him unfairly pretty.

 

“So, what did this guy that call silly and childish?” Louis asks.

“Why?” Liam raises his eyebrows in confusion.

Louis shrugs nonchalantly as he fiddles around with the various cleaning equipment on the shelves, “I’m curious.”

Li almost wants to tell him to mind his own business, sensing that he'll just make fun of him, but there’s a sincerity in his voice that Liam admits he may just be imagining. “I told him I wanted to get into music producing,” He sighs in response, preparing for the reaction he gets from everybody. But Louis nods in response and says, “Cool.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not?”

Liam bites his lips, “I don’t know. Not usually the reaction I get when I tell people that. People think it's not very realistic.”

“Fuck them, then,” Louis says nonchalantly, "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Doesn't hurt to try."

Liam stares down at his feet and can’t help feel a little happy that someone understands. He's not delusional, he knows there's a one in a million chance but he just loves music so much that he just wants a chance. But then he feels a little silly that something so small is getting him so excited. Feeling the need to take the spotlight off himself, he asks, “What about you? What do you do?”

“I’m a… teaching assistant at a kindergarten,” Louis answers but he’s narrowing his eyes at him like he’s expecting him to make a joke about that which is confusing.

“And this angers you?” Liam asks carefully

“No, I just like kids.”

“Then, why are you scowling?”

“Because according to my date, that makes me a glorified babysitter for a bunch of ‘snot-nosed brats’,” Louis sneers.

“So, you’re on a date with some Disney villain?” Liam can't stop the laugh from escaping.

Louis expression softens slightly and he tries to hide his smile with a scoff, “Yeah, Gaston has leaped out of Beauty and the Beast and went on a date with me.” Despite himself, his lips crack into a small smile.

They fall into another silence before Liam sighs and says, “You know, instead of hiding in a broom closet, we could do the mature thing and just tell our dates that we don’t think there’s any point in continuing the date.”

“No, I’m content with staying here,” Louis says casually to which Liam side-eyes him. After a moment of glaring at each other, he rolls his eyes and gives in, “Alright, fine.”

They stumble out of the broom closet to find both their dates have already left the restaurant and left them with the cheque.

“Well, I guess we deserve that,” Liam says.

“Yeah, whatever,” Louis mutters.

 

Liam taps his fingers against the counter while he waits for his credit card to be approved. He looks out the window where Louis is already outside waiting for a taxi since he paid his cheque first.

He thinks about how his night has gone. Despite circumstances, he hasn’t felt at ease talking to someone other than his friends in a long time. His friends are always telling him that he needs to take more chances. Maybe he should do just that.

Once he gets back his card and his receipt, he rushes outside to catch up to Louis before he gets into a taxi.

“Hey, Louis,” Liam calls after him just as a taxi is about to pull up. Louis turns to face him, raising his eyebrow in confusion. “I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner with me some time? No pressure, though. I mean, if I’m as bad a date as Gaston, you can totally just ditch me with the cheque and we never have to--“

He hold up a hand to cut off his babbling and smiles softly,” I’d love to.” He grabs Liam’s arm and takes out a pen from his pocket, writing his phone number on his arm.

“So, I’ll call you,” Liam bites his lip shyly.

“Yeah you better,” Louis grins back. Without warning, he pulls him in for quick kiss and gets into the taxi before Liam can process what happened. He stumbles back slightly and feels his heart flutter. Going out with Niall that night may not have been such a bad idea after all, even if it didn’t turn out the way he expected.


End file.
